Mixing Mother Tongues: Language, Narrative and the Spaces of Memory in Postcolonial Works by Italian Women Writers (Part I)

The Italian presence on the African continent has a complex history, ranging from exploration and travel to colonial and post-colonial settlement. Both this presence and the textual production related to it are currently becoming the focus of an increasing number of scholarly studies. The testimonies of Italian women are, however, still subject to a particularly acute form of erasure, as their presence on the continent and their writings are often rendered invisible by the predominance of a male discourse of conquest. By examining semi-autobiographical works by four contemporary authors who write and publish in Italian — Erminia Dell'Oro, Marinette Pendola, Shirin Ramzanali Fazel and Ribka Sibhatu — this article discusses how these narratives present personal and collective memories of colonial settings. Particular attention is devoted to the connection between narrative strategies and linguistic choices, and to the impact these have on the authors' identification strategies.